Contract Connect

Some Positive Progress Made, with Tentative Agreements Signed on Several Sections of Articles

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Mediator Very Helpful at Negotiations

NWS Chief Negotiator’s Childish Antics Continue to Hinder Progress

(May 21, 2018) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in Silver Spring, Maryland, during a two-week session May 7th through May 18th, 2018.

For the second consecutive session, a third-party mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) attended most of our meetings. The mediator was a very big help as he kept everyone’s behavior in check, kept everyone focused on the work at hand, helped foster a collaborative and productive atmosphere and helped bring the Parties closer together on several sections of the CBA. However, during the few times when the mediator was not present, the childish antics previously exhibited by the NWS Chief negotiator returned with a vengeance. His bullying outburst turned negotiations into absolute chaos as his temper raged unchecked. He regressed into name calling and blatant rudeness which resulted in either an unwillingness or an inability to continue face to face negotiations. Fortunately, each time the mediator made himself present, as if by magic, the tone and demeanor of the NWS Chief Negotiator greatly improved, and he became more respectful, professional, and cooperative at the negotiation table.

At this negotiation session, the following Articles were discussed: Article 20 (Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS)); Article 21 (Work Schedules for Employees Who Work on a Non-Rotating Shift Basis (NWSEO) / Work Schedules for People Who Do Not Work Rotating Shifts (NWS)) and Article 23 (Travel).

At the last negotiation session, the Parties made substantial progress throughout Article 23, with tentative agreements made on all but one section of the Article. For the lone section not agreed to, concerning travel upgrades, NWS originally proposed wording that was even more restrictive than what the Federal Travel Regulations (FTRs) allow. Both Parties discussed and agreed with the fact that commercial airline coach seats have gotten smaller and more cramped, and studies have shown that there is an increase in illness (like deep vein thrombosis/blood clots) attributed to this.

NWSEO proposed wording that would encourage supervisors, upon request of the traveler and to the extent practicable, to approve seating upgrades within the coach cabin (these are known as “Coach Plus”, “Coach Elite” or another similar identifier) not prohibited by applicable FTRs, and to note this approval on the travel authorization. While there was lively debate and counter proposals made by both Parties to tentatively agree to the remaining section and reach a tentative agreement on the entire Travel Article, an agreement was unable to be reached, and Management chose to table further discussion on Article 23.

Negotiations then shifted to Article 21. This Article was initially discussed by the Parties in February and March 2018 and summarized in the February and March editions of Contract Connect. The Parties continued a long discussion over which positions (e.g. Service Hydrologists (SHs), Port Meteorological Officers (PMOs), Information Technology Officers (ITOs), Administrative Support Assistants (ASAs), Electronics Technicians (ETs) and others) are covered under Article 21. NWSEO offered to leave the aforementioned Bargaining Unit (BU) employees covered by Article 21 if they are given the same rights and protections as those employees covered by Article 20, which means all employees (except for Regional and National HQ) would have both planning and fixed work schedules.

With the help of the mediator, the parties did make some progress within Article 21, and came to tentative agreements on sections related to work planning, WebTA and overtime. In order to break an impasse regarding Definitions of Article 21, NWSEO suggested using the existing 2001 CBA as the basis for discussions. Management agreed, and several definitions were tentatively agreed to.

For the last two days of this session, NWS spent much of the time in caucus and eventually switched gears from Article 21 and sent NWSEO extensive counter proposals on Article 21 and on NWS Article 8 (Labor Management Relations). These counter proposals were reviewed by the NWSEO negotiators and will be discussed at the next CBA negotiation session scheduled for June 4th - June 15th, 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session.

(April 18, 2018) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida, during a two-week session April 2nd through April 13, 2018.

Upon the request of NWSEO, in hopes of making progress with the CBA negotiations, Commissioner I.M. Delgado Alberto, a Federal Mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) attended this negotiation session. The inclusion of a third-party Mediator at the table was intended to foster a more collegial atmosphere and provide for a positive, healthy, and more productive environment that would allow the Parties to progress towards a successful and forward-leaning CBA. The presence of the Mediator helped to temper but did not eliminate, the habitually eccentric antics of the NWS’s Chief Negotiator that have been reported upon many times here in the past. As such, the negotiations that followed were still rather contentious, as will be described below.
At this negotiation session the following Articles were discussed: NWSEO Article 8 covering Pre-Decisional Involvement and Mid Term Bargaining; Management’s Article 8 which covers Pre-Decisional Involvement; and Management’s Article 9 covering Mid Term Bargaining. The chief negotiators had previously agreed to enlist the assistance of the Mediator to discuss these articles. While at the negotiation table, NWSEO also agreed to enlist the help of the Mediator to negotiate Article 23, which covers Official Travel.
With the help of the Mediator from the FMCS, both Parties then discussed Article 8 labor management and more importantly Pre-Decisional Involvement (PDI). Both the NWS and NWSEO included PDI within Article 8. In fact, both the NWS and NWSEO spent days discussing PDI and Article 8 back in May 2017. Unfortunately, Management’s May 2017 position had not changed as they would not waiver from their position that they alone could select the issues or topics to discuss, and it was solely their decision whether or not to conduct PDI.

Management’s stance on this issue was based on Executive Order (EO) 13522 which was signed by President Obama on December 9, 2009. The EO allows for Executive Branch Agencies to establish Labor–Management teams that will have open and honest forums for Pre-decisional Input (PDI) of any and all ideas that could provide for more efficient agency operations. It was hoped that this would prevent lengthy and costly Impact and Implementation (I&I) bargaining over already decided and enacted program changes. The NWS Chief Negotiator argued that since it was “only” an Executive Order the Agency was NOT bound to obey it. On September 29, 2017, President Trump rescinded EO 13522. At this last negotiation session, the NWS Chief Negotiator freely admitted that they would no longer allow any Pre-Decisional Input from the Union because they ARE bound to obey President Trump’s rescission of EO 13522!! When questioned about the reasoning for this 180-degree reversal the Agency’s Chief Negotiator was unable to provide an answer other than they are bound to the rescission. So now, as an example, literally what the Agency is proposing is that a Union Steward cannot go into the Manager’s office to suggest that a printer be moved to another location. If it is not the manager’s desire or idea, it cannot be discussed.

NWSEO believes Management’s position on this matter is not the way to generate trust and gain cooperation through teamwork. The Union and Management should be on equal footing with both being allowed to bring ideas to the bargaining table. NWSEO believes we need to be partners in the process working side by side with Management through the entire decision-making process to create a more dynamic and effective NWS of the future.

With the Mediator present and as negotiations began again on Article 8, Management, standing firm in their obedience to President Trump’s rescission of EO 13522, once again in another very clear example of regressive bargaining, backed out and stripped away all union-initiated negotiations from their proposal after having allowed it in a previous counterproposal. In other words, unless Management wants to bargain something with the NWSEO, there will be no bargaining.

On 4/4/18, at 10:41 a.m. management counter-proposed language that noted, “Management recognizes that the Union may, in accordance with the law have the right to initiate bargaining on its own and engage in mid-term bargaining over matters not specifically addressed in this Agreement, or an existing MOU”.

Then later that same day at 3:40 pm Management countered, and struck their language with NWS Counter #4 Section 2:
“When Management proposes a change which materially affects conditions of employment, they will provide adequate notice of the changes and an opportunity to bargain.”

Then finally, on 4/11/18, the NWS countered their Article 8, Section 1 with:
The Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute imposes an obligation upon the Parties to bargain in good faith over the impact and implementation of and in some cases the substance of, changes in working conditions which are proposed by one or the other of the Parties during the term of this Agreement. The Parties also recognize that pre-decisional involvement (PDI) in decisions which are traditional Management prerogatives may obviate the need for subsequent bargaining over the impact and implementation of Management decisions where the cost of doing so brings tangible benefits to the NWS.

This proposal brought a swift response from NWSEO Chief Negotiator. NWSEO argued that the new NWS proposal simply notes that PDI exists yet makes no commitment to ALLOW for PDI, as there is in the current 2001 CBA. This is a giant leap backward. The NWS Chief negotiator said there are times PDI is not necessary and the NWS is not going to do PDI unless there is a tangible benefit to the Agency. For instance, painting an office or replacing carpet would be a perfect topic to discuss with the Bargaining Unit but, under their new proposal, since that activity would have no tangible benefit to the Agency, no discussion with the Bargaining Unit would take place. The Union strongly disagrees with Management on this issue and, again, feels the Union should be brought in early when Management wants to propose a change in working conditions. By working together, the Agency will experience the tangible benefits of saving time and money. The NWSEO negotiators wanted a commitment from Management for PDI but the offer was rejected by the NWS Chief Negotiator.

Both NWSEO and NWS Management made progress throughout the Travel Article 23 the language was agreeable to both Parties in several sections. To give management credit they backed off many of their onerous demands and gave the Union a proposal that was similar to the current travel article. The Mediator from the FMCS was extremely helpful to both Parties as they worked through the details of each section to find common ground and mutually agreeable language.

Unfortunately, as both Parties were working on language to resolve the final sticking point in just ONE remaining section (one or two short sentences), Management did what they’ve done on numerous occasions: they went negative and regressed from what was previously proposed. They proposed wording that was even more restrictive than what the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) allow. Specifically, Management proposed the same restrictions required to upgrade to business or first class to that of upgrading to a seat that merely provides more legroom.

The negotiation session ended on a sour note with NWS Chief Negotiator playing a childish game of “keep-away” by not allowing the NWSEO Chief Negotiator access to the documents that contained the few things that were agreeable to both parties and as a result, NWSEO was forced to withdraw on those points. At the official adjournment of the session, the final sticking point in Article 23 was left unresolved.

The NWSEO and NWS negotiating teams are continuing to work on resolving the minor unresolved issues within Article 23 and NWSEO are hopeful both Parties can find some middle ground soon. While technically there were no tentative agreements, we’re hopeful that management will refrain from regressive bargaining, allow us to move forward, and sign off on Article 23 during our next session.

NO signed tentative agreements were reached during this two-week session.

Also in attendance for three days was Commissioner Ines Delgado Alberto, Mediator at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service of Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session. The next CBA negotiation session is scheduled for May 7th – May 18, 2018, Washington DC/Silver Spring, MD.

Management’s Chief Negotiator from NOAA Tables Discussions on Work Schedules, Insisting Their Article 13 on “Performance Management” is Far More Important than Articles 20 and 21 (Work Schedules)

NWSEO Negotiators Once Again Requested Intervention by Means of a Mediator or Facilitator to Make Some Progress. The Agency’s Chief Negotiator from NOAA Finally Agrees to use Mediation through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on the Final Day of Negotiations

(March 21, 2018) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in Silver Spring, MD during a two-week session March 5th through March 16th, 2018.

Negotiations on Article 20 (Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS)) and Article 21 (Work Schedules for Employees Who Work on a Non-Rotating Shift Basis (NWSEO) / Work Schedules for People Who Do Not Work Rotating Shifts (NWS)) continued during the first week of this session. The Parties continued a long discussion over SHs, PMOs, ITOs, ASAs, ETs and others regarding which article each of these positions should be covered by. Management once again insisted that these positions (anyone who does not specifically work rotating shifts full time) be placed under Article 21. What this means is that none of these employees would get overtime when their shift hours change inside the fixed work schedule. NWSEO believes this is unfair as these employees have always been treated as Article 20 employees and have always been compensated with overtime when their work schedules changed inside the fixed schedule.

With management’s proposal, the only time SHs, PMOs, ITOs, ASAs, ETs and others would get overtime would be if their schedule was changed during the administrative work week (Sunday through Saturday). For instance, if an ET was told on a Saturday to fix the radar on Sunday, they would not get overtime for that work.

In the Union’s proposal, Article 20 would include both rotating and non-rotating operational employees and the aforementioned positions would be placed in Article 20 and continue to be placed on the fixed schedule and continue to get overtime if their schedule changes.

To reach agreement, NWSEO offered to leave some Bargaining Unit (BU) employees covered by Article 21, if they are given the same protections as those employees in Article 20; thus, all employees would have both planning and fixed work schedules. Management refused, and eventually, the Agency’s Chief Negotiator tabled both Articles 20 and 21 and wanted no further discussions on the subject at this time. A frustrated NWSEO Chief Negotiator again requested a facilitator or mediator, to which the Agency Chief negotiator said, “the Union proposal is noted.” NWSEO said the Parties should not walk away at this point and time since everyone has spent weeks and countless hours attempting to come to an agreement on this most important article, employee work schedules. Unfortunately, the Agency’s Chief Negotiator for NOAA again would not even discuss the issue.

NWSEO feels work schedules and work-life balance are among the most important issues facing Bargaining Unit employees. NWSEO’s commitment in this endeavor is as follows:

--NWSEO is dedicated to working collaboratively toward strengthening our CBA for the benefit of our stakeholders, our employees and NWS operations. The focus of our efforts is to ensure employees can maintain a quality work-life balance, while enabling the preparing and positioning of our workforce to deliver the very best forecast and all hazard services to all those who rely upon our products and services.

It has become painfully obvious that the motivations between the Parties diverge on the second sentence in the above paragraph: “The focus of our efforts is to ensure employees can maintain a quality work-life balance...” As we’re all aware, stable work schedules are the foundation of this commitment.

Week 2 of this negotiation session focused on Article 13 (Performance Appraisals and Within Grade Increases (NWSEO) / Performance Management (NWS). One major difference between the two proposals is, Management is proposing a 5-tier Performance Plan, while NWSEO proposes the current 2-tier Performance Plan remain. NWSEO pointed out repeatedly that NOAA put out an Administrative Order (NAO) stating that all bargaining unit (BU) employees must be on a 2-tier system. Despite this, Management continued to push their 5-tier system proposal, but NWSEO said they are not hearing anyone yelling within Management or the BU for a 5-tier system.

Both Parties made numerous counter proposals within Article 13, and just like the previous Articles 20 and 21, Management refused to budge from their position, while the Union was willing to make some major concessions and try to reach an agreement through consensus.

NWSEO has repeatedly asked for a mediator or facilitator to sit in negotiations and work with each Party to find middle ground and agreement for the last several months. It wasn’t until the final day of this negotiation session that Management’s Chief Negotiator finally agreed to allow a trained mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to attend our future negotiation sessions in April and May. NWSEO believes the use a of Federal Mediator is a positive step forward to help the Parties resolve differences, find middle ground, and obtain future tentative agreements.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session. The next CBA negotiation session is scheduled from April 2nd - April 13th, 2018 in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg Area.

Highlights

After weeks of negotiations and through Week 1 of this session concerning scheduling, NWS and NWSEO (the Parties) conceptually agreed expand the use of flexible work, traditional, compressed and/or seniority-based shift schedules for employees that traditionally work rotating shifts.

Week 2 – NWS backs away from nearly all the recommendations from the NWS/NWSEO Shift Work Team by unilaterally withdrawing what was agreed upon at the negotiating table by NWS and NWSEO, and now simply wants rotating shift schedules.

(February 18, 2018) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in St. Petersburg, FL during a two-week session February 5th through February 16th, 2018.

The headline for this 2-week CBA session – Regression, Regression, Regression. For those who regularly read “Contract Connect”, the past several weeks focused on negotiations over Article 20 (Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS). The Parties dabbled into Article 21 (Work Schedules for Employees Who Work on a Non-Rotating Shift Basis (NWSEO) / Work Schedules for People Who Do Not Work Rotating Shifts (NWS), but the primary focus has been on developing a more flexible framework for developing work schedules within Article 20.

In the discussions on Article 20 and 21 management once again insisted that ETs, ITOs, ASAs and SH’s (anyone who does not specifically work rotating shifts full time) be placed under Article 21. What this means is that these employees likely would not get overtime when their shift hours change inside the fixed schedule. The only time they would get overtime would be if their schedule was changed during the administrative work week (Sunday through Saturday). For instance if an ET was told on a Saturday to fix the radar on Sunday, they would not get overtime for that. In the union’s proposal ETs, ITOs, SHs, ASA, hydrologists that do not rotate etc. would be placed in Article 20 and continue to be placed in the fixed schedule and continue to get overtime if that schedule changes.

Work schedules are the heart of our CBA. Work schedules were the catalyst for the very formation of the NWSEO 42 years ago when Weather Service Employees united to get a fixed work schedule. Employees desired some stability in their schedules because without the fixed schedule employees would frequently find themselves showing up for a scheduled shift only to be told to come back later when their services could be better used.

Until this past week, it seemed the energies of both Parties’ were focused on creating a better quality of worklife for rotating shift workers by integrating into the new CBA the work of the recent shift work team and its many predecessors. If the Parties cannot work together to resolve their differences over scheduling, the Union is pessimistic of being able to work with the management representatives on any issue.

The Union’s CBA proposals incorporated forward thinking ideas from our own members, including scheduled recuperative breaks (including, as operations allow, mild exercise or rest options for overnight shifts to boost energy levels in people suffering from fatigue as operations allow); encouraging more ‘personalized’ and flexible schedules, expanding health club reimbursements, assisting in child/elder care; part-time and job-sharing options (currently very rare in the NWS), and installing exercise equipment and showers at all offices. None of these shift work team recommendations were included in the NWS proposals management has shown little interest in the union’s worklife proposals. In addition, NWSEO stressed the importance of having “fully staffed” Offices, because without full and proper staffing, these ideas will not have a chance of being implemented.

After working for nearly six weeks on Article 20 with both sides submitting proposals and counter proposals and conceptionally agreeing to expand the use of flexible work, traditional, compressed and/or seniority-based shift schedules that may or may not rotate, Management, in their clearest example of regressive bargaining to date, backed out of allowing employees the ability to try schedules that do not rotate; instead, wanting to keep rotating shift schedules. Because the Union made many compromises and trades to get to a consensus including non-rotating shifts, Management’s regressive tactics forced the Union to submit counter proposals to protect our members’ interests. Sadly, we did not progress forward in this session but instead went backwards as Management’s negotiation tactics turned regressive. These negative tactics have essentially obliterated the trust we’d worked hard to establish with the Management team and will only serve to hinder cooperation going forward.

The NWSEO negotiators once again adamantly requested intervention by means of a mediator or facilitator. Management once again rejected our request. The inclusion of a third party at the table would hopefully help temper the frequently “childish and rude” antics of the NWS Chief Negotiator and create a positive and healthy environment that would allow the Parties to progress towards a successful and forward leaning CBA as promised by NWS Management’s all hands emails to NWS employees.

Finally after the President’s budget was released the union questioned management about negotiating scheduling Articles while the agency was planning big changes to operations. In a previous negotiating session management’s Chief Negotiator told the union essentially that OWA plans would have no impact on the CBA.

At this session the union complained that had we known the agency was definitely planning on closing offices at night that it would likely have had an impact on both parties’ proposals and counter proposals. Each management negotiator denied having knowledge of the plans to cut staff and part time offices was going to be in the 2019 budget. Management’s Chief Negotiator admitted that any OWA plans were not addressed in their CBA proposals and would have to be negotiated through midterm bargaining of whatever CBA (the 2001 or the one being negotiated) is in effect at the time.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session. The next CBA negotiation session is scheduled from March 5 – March 16, 2018 at National Weather Service Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.

The Parties conceptually agree to expand the use of flexible work, traditional, compressed and/or seniority based shift schedules for employees that traditionally work rotating shifts, although more discussions are needed before any tentative agreement can be reached.

(January 25, 2018) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in Silver Spring, MD at NWS Headquarters during a two-week session January 8 - 19, 2018. The session started with six NWSEO representatives and just three Management representatives during week one. By week two, the number of Management representatives was up to four, while the NWSEO contingent of five to six negotiators continued. The negotiation session ended a day early due to illness of negotiation team members.

This session focused on Article 20 (Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS), with the exception of a few forays into Article 21 (Work Schedules for Employees Who Work on a Non-Rotating Shift Basis (NWSEO) / Work Schedules for People Who Do Not Work Rotating Shifts (NWS)), with some parts of Article 17 (Training and Career Development) also discussed during this session.

Article 20 – Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS)
In our Article 20 proposal, NWSEO uses some of the recommendations from a NWS Shift Work Team to allow more flexibility in local office work schedules and pushes to expand the use of flexible work, traditional, compressed and/or seniority based shift work schedules to be negotiated at the Local Office Team (LOT) level. Our proposal allows for the LOT to choose from a variety of different work schedules such as: Alternate Work Schedules (AWS) with no restrictions, including Compressed Work Schedules (CWS); flexible schedules (i.e. maxi-flex); and allows for schedules based on seniority. To help clarify what NWSEO envisions, the flow chart below was provided to management.

Management’s initial proposed Article 20 largely kept what is in the current Article 20, but made a distinction that flexible work schedules do not apply to rotating shift workers and largely scales back protections for IMETs. At the last negotiation session, Management provided several counter proposals which further limited the use of flexible schedules and gave Management the ability to change your fixed schedule in order to accommodate fair weather with no notice. These proposals were later withdrawn after NWSEO pushed back and said there is nothing in the NWS proposals that reflects what was disseminated via a NWS All-Hands message by the NWS Deputy Director on termination of the current CBA, which contained phrases such as - “enhancing the rights and opportunities that all of you deserve;” and “NWS is committed to ensuring a new CBA is put in place, one that reflects the needs of the National Weather Service today and going forward, and that considers all NWS employees.” During the first week of this session, there was a long discussion concerning moving people off of a midnight shift to a day shift, which would leave single coverage on the midnight shift. NWSEO asked about the additional workload which would be incurred by the remaining single person, and the Agency Chief negotiator said, “besides sleeping?” This outrageous response from the Chief Negotiator who works for NOAA disrespects the hard-working women and men who work shifts, and he is the person who speaks for Louis Uccellini at the table. What was even more disturbing was that not one manager sitting with the Chief negotiator spoke up and objected to his words and behavior. NWSEO stood up for NWS employees which solicited an apology from the chief negotiator. But, words have meaning. What he said, he meant.

The NWS management team softened their tone with regards to work schedules during the second week, and sent a series of counter proposals. One of them said, “The LOT will meet to discuss any scheduling proposal. Traditional, compressed and/or seniority based fixed-start or rotating shift schedules shall be negotiated at the LOT in accordance with Article 8 of this Agreement.

The LOT does not have authority to agree to any other type of schedule, e.g. flexible schedules, but may propose these types of schedules for consideration to the Regional Labor Council (RLC). For these schedules, the RLC will, if necessary, conduct negotiations in accordance with Article 8 of this Agreement.

This proposal would have been acceptable, except management also included:

“Notwithstanding any provisions of this Article 20, Management retains the right to lawfully re-assign employees for purposes including but not limited to evaluating performance or training.”

Which, of course, is unacceptable as it allows management not to follow Article 20 whenever they don't want to!

There were many other counter proposals offered by both Parties, and some progress was made. The NWS and NWSEO negotiation teams attempted to find areas of agreement and work to reach consensus where there are conflicts. Unfortunately, no tentative agreements were reached during this two-week session.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session. The next CBA negotiation session is scheduled from February 5 - 16, 2018 in St. Petersburg, FL.
Note: NWSEO will not always go into specifics for every article as it may be to our disadvantage with ongoing negotiations.

Leave and Work Schedules of Shift Workers

Highlights

NWSEO proposes to expand the use of flexible work schedules to include shift workers through the Local Office Team (LOT) process.

NWSEO proposes to allow for fixed start shifts in addition to rotating shifts to support 24/7 operations.

Management proposes effectively eliminating fixed schedules

Management proposes that rotating shift workers not be allowed to even consider a flexible work schedule

(December 27, 2017) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in St. Petersburg, FL during a two-week session December 12th through December 23rd, 2017. The session started with six NWSEO representatives and five Management representatives during week one. By week 2, the number of Management representatives was down to just three, while the NWSEO contingent of six negotiators continued. Parts of Articles 19 and 20, along with an article on Duration and Terms of the Agreement, were discussed during this session.

Article 19 – Leave
The parties continued previously tabled discussions on the “Court Leave” section of Article 19, which included a lengthy discussion regarding when an employee is called to be part of a grand jury.

The NWSEO presented two counter proposals to Management, with each following a recent arbitration ruling in favor of NWSEO and an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by NWS Management and NWSEO regarding court leave.

One of NWSEO’s counter proposals stated, “Court leave will be granted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. An employee eligible for court leave shall be granted court leave to serve on a jury, the entire period of service, extending from the date on which he/she is required to report to the time of discharge by the court. If an employee is on annual leave when called for jury duty, court leave should be substituted. A rotating shift worker who performs jury service during the day is eligible for court leave for his/her regularly scheduled tour of duty. Employees granted Court leave for jury service are entitled to the same compensation they would otherwise have received, including premium pay, overtime, and night differential.

Employees whose regular tour of duty includes Saturdays, Sundays, or both, and who serve on a jury during the week may be granted court leave and be paid premium pay for the weekend days which are a part of their regular tour of duty.”

Additional discussions continued during the session with management demanding they need 14 days to approve leave and the NWSEO arguing that current technology allows for a faster turnaround. At one point management argued, what if the scheduler is working mids, to which the union responded the MIC could text, email or pick up the phone at midnight and call them.

After reviewing the NWSEO counters, the NWS Chief Negotiator tabled further discussions until he could consult with NWS General Counsel.

Duration and Terms of the Agreement (NWS Article 29 / NWSEO Article 45)
Management made a counter proposal on one section of the Article which NWSEO tentatively accepted: “This Agreement shall be in full force and effect for a period of three (3) years from its effective date. It shall be renewed from year to year thereafter unless written notice of a desire to terminate, renegotiate or amend the Agreement or any part thereof is served by either one party upon to the Agreement on the other party to the Agreement between the 60th day and the 105th day prior to the expiration date.”

No other tentative agreements were reached concerning this Article.

Article 20 – Work Schedules of Shift Workers (NWSEO) / Work Schedules of Rotating Shift Workers (NWS)
The bulk of this session was spent discussing Article 20. The NWSEO proposal used some of the recommendations from a NWS Shift Work Team to allow more flexibility in local office work schedules. The NWSEO Article 20 is for SHIFT WORKERSand allows shifts and work schedules to be decided by each Local Office Team (LOT) since offices have different needs. A shift worker is defined in part as “a bargaining unit employee assigned to an operational office/unit which operates more than five (5) days per week and twelve (12) hours per day.”

The NWSEO Article 20 proposal allows for the LOT to choose from a variety of different work schedules such as: Alternate Work Schedules (AWS) with no restrictions, including Compressed Work Schedules (CWS), flexible schedules (i.e. maxi-flex), and allows for schedules that do not rotate (fixed start shifts) based on an annual bid by seniority. It is important to note that this flexibility NWSEO is trying to provide may not work at every office and in our proposal the standard is still rotating shift work, but we are trying to provide local offices with flexibility on scheduling to improve working conditions, health of employees and work-life balance. This idea for flexible work schedules would apply to operational positions and to those positions which support operations.

Following some contentious discussions, Management provided several counter proposals which further limited the use of flexible schedules and gave Management the ability to change fixed schedules. Their proposal, the purpose of which they claimed was to enhance employees’ work life would allow management to change your shift in the fixed schedule as long as they gave you 48 hours’ notice. In another proposal they stated that your shift could be moved on the fixed schedule “in order to accommodate fair weather” with no notice. In other words after finishing a mid and sleeping all day the MIC could call you at 11:30 pm and tell you the weather looks “fair” and to come in at 8 am instead, oh but we still need you to work your mid the next night. It was only after NWSEO provided intense scrutiny of these counter proposals that the NWS Chief Negotiator admitted that he needed to further examine the NWS proposals and recessed until the next scheduled negotiating session but management did not withdraw their proposals that would essentially end fixing the work schedule that is still management’s official position. The parties did agree that both sides would jointly review the NWS Shift Work Team recommendations during the next session to try and work on areas where we can agree to allow more flexibility with scheduling.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session. The next CBA negotiation is scheduled from January 8-19, 2018 at NWS Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.

Note: NWSEO will not always go into specifics for every article as it may be to our disadvantage with ongoing negotiations. Thank you for your continued membership and support! NWSEO wishes all its members and NWS employees Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

-NWSEO-

A “Kentankerous” Two Week Negotiation Session

NWS Operations to Continue Around the Clock Operations
“Where Determined by Management…?”

Did Management hint at future WFO hours of operations plans with their counterproposal in Article 19?

Lots of discussion on leave, with NWSEO making a very generous counter proposal which was completely shot down by Management.

Management only willing to agree to proposals where both sides have the same words or where the union’s proposal is the law.

(November 28, 2017) Negotiations for the new NWS-NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continued in Silver Spring, MD at NWS Headquarters during a two-week session November 6 - 17, 2017. This session was a mixed bag, with little progress the first week and slight progress the second week, but Management continues to stonewall significant progress and is not showing much of a willingness to work with the Union. Two articles were discussed during this session: Article 26 (Telework) and Article 19 (Leave).

Article 26 – Telework
Discussions continued on the new Telework article which both sides reviewed each other’s proposals. Some progress was made on the first day as two sections were agreed to. One regarded liability, which stated the agency should be responsible for damages should they occur to the employee's personal or real property in accordance to the Federal Tort Claims Act or Military Personnel and Civilian Employees Claims Act. The other section dealt with Workers Compensation should an employee be involved in an accident or injury while working at their alternate worksite. Other sections of the article were tabled as management was unwilling to compromise on something as simple as allowing a teleworker to end their day early if the Secretary of Commerce granted an early dismissal.

Article 19 – Leave
The NWSEO proposal included 18 sections which clarified the types of leave that may be requested to be consistent with current leave policies and statutes and leave scheduling procedures that could be utilized. The NWS proposal also contained similar items within their 14 sections. Bargaining over the items in the respective proposals was far from a hasty process. For the first few days, discussions focused on the wording from the first two sections which generally defined the various types of leave and how it would be scheduled. Both parties agreed that leave requests would be generally scheduled using WebTA (or a successor system). However, this is where progress stalled.

When it came time to discuss scheduled leave (leave which is requested before the start of the administrative work week), management insisted that they could approve or deny any request during a 14-day period. NWSEO thought that 14 days to respond to a leave request was unduly long and asked for a much shorter time period. The Union believes that decisions should be rendered in a much faster manner since leave requests are rapidly and automatically sent to the supervisor or their designee. Imagine if you saw that an airline was having a 10-day fare sale for travel a couple months out. If we accepted the up to 14-day decision window for a leave request to be adjudicated, you might not be able to take advantage of such a sale. By utilizing WebTA, the union’s initial position was the leave should have been able to be approved within one business day. The Union gave Management a counter proposal, of a 5-day window for leave requests that began within the next 30 days, and a longer 7-day window for longer range requests. Management refused to even consider the NWSEO proposal and saw no reason for a compromise.

Both Parties moved onto a seemingly simple subject, the determination of a peak leave period for annual leave requests. Both parties stuck fairly close to the existing contract; however, management insisted on placing extraneous legalese phrases into their proposals which rendered them difficult to decipher for the parties that were going to ultimately utilize them, the stewards and managers. The subtle phrasing would also invalidate NWSEO’s ability to bargain over the establishment of or changes to the peak leave periods.

The Parties agreed to issues pertaining to credit hours and how they can be used. The Parties reached agreement on a new section introduced solely by the NWSEO pertaining to the use of sick leave for veterans with a service connected disability according to the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act.

While progress was made on credit hours and the Wounded Warriors Act, (however, management only accepted provisions that were the law), the train of productivity was completely derailed by Management with the biggest bombshell of these negotiation sessions; NWS operations during times of hazardous weather or other hazardous conditions. The current CBA states that NWS operations must continue around the clock, seven days a week despite adverse weather or other conditions.

At first, both parties had similar wording; however, out of nowhere, management countered their original proposal and insisted on placing four key words at the beginning of their proposal: “Where determined by management…” This wording raises several questions about the future operations of offices: Would the NWS now determine that NWS operations didn't need to continue around the clock? Would this lead to eventual office closures/part timing of offices? Was this one of the basic premises behind the “Evolve” movement?

Also within the Leave Article, the Union proposal asked for more time to train the stewards in an effort to more effectively uphold the intent of the CBA and work better with management, especially given the potential complexity of implementing a new contract. Management was not interested in the Union proposal.

Two other sections which were agreed to during this session included: Military Leave and Excused Absences. The discussion of the latter proved to be quite frustrating as the only difference in the parties’ proposal was the title of the section. NWSEO titled it: “Excused Absences” while Management’s title was “Excused Absence.” The NWS chief negotiator argued for about 45 minutes over whether a word should be plural. The NWSEO Team had to remind the NWS Chief Negotiator that he previously had to sign a letter to NWS staff agreeing to bargain in good faith, and finally, Management accepted NWSEO’s language in order to “make us happy.”

The last part of the negotiation session had the Union offering one of our most comprehensive counter proposals, offered in the spirit of compromise and working together, pertaining to sick leave. Most of what we offered used management's wording verbatim since we thought it was well written and easy to comprehend. However, one section we could not accept was the requirement for obtaining a medical diagnosis to determine contagiousness. In other words, management's proposal would mandate that you seek a medical diagnosis before calling into work with a contagious condition. Our contention is if you have a cold and are contagious, it would be better to stay at home rather than to potentially infect your coworkers. Management thought this opened the door for an employee to abuse sick leave. We thought in the overwhelming majority of cases, you can, and should, trust the employee; not to mention, there is still a section in the sick leave article which allows management to request additional information from a medical authority for absences which are questionable. In the end, management would not accept any portion of our counter proposal, refusing to agree to their own language and refusing to work with us.

While we don’t expect management to unilaterally accept what we propose to them, we thought we at least deserved a counter to keep the process moving ahead. A disturbing signal during this negotiation was the lack of trust and respect for the employees. There was a repeated inference that employees were abusive of their leave entitlements, employee abuse needed to be reined in and controlled.

NWSEO does not share this view and contends that NWS employees are among the most motivated and dedicated federal workers. The OWA data supports this view of NWS employees. Sadly, if the two parties can’t agree to trust and respect the employees, where is the future of this agency?

To date, after seven months of negotiations, management has only been willing to agree to issues where either both parties had the same words or where they were just agreeing to what was the law. They are unwilling to even give counterproposals on negotiable issues where we are going to have to find some compromise. Hopefully, the next session scheduled December 11-22 in St. Petersburg, FL will prove more fruitful with a better good faith effort; otherwise, this will continue to be a very tedious drawn out negotiation.

Contract Connect, the negotiation newsletter for bargaining unit employees from bargaining unit employees, brings the latest news from the negotiations table to you. It is distributed as quickly as possible after each CBA negotiation session.

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